FAMILYFANS Books & Comics

Slam

by Nick Hornby

(Riverhead Books)

Reader Appeal: Teens and Young Adults

Genre: Youth/Young Adult Fiction

Nick Hornby has a remarkable talent for writing clever, character-driven books that make you smile and leave you with a hankering for Hugh Grant movies. And that’s a respectable accomplishment. From the pen (or keyboard) of the same author that brought us About a Boy and Fever Pitch (and their respective movie adaptations) comes another amusing and insightful glimpse into the life of an arrested development boy-man, or actually, in this case, an accelerated development man-boy.

Slam is the story of Sam, a fairly regular teenager who makes a fairly regular, but extraordinarily life-changing, mistake. Lulled by the pleasure of having a new and beautiful girlfriend from a wealthy family, Sam gets her pregnant, and the choice that he never really even thought about changes his life forever. This story is that simple…and that complex. Of course there’s more.

Sam’s mother had him when she was a teenager, and Sam’s own dad is still woefully immature. Sam is scared, and the occasional dreams he has where he jumps forward into the future send him running away from the life he sees in front of him. But time isn’t something you can run from, and Sam gradually learns that the only road that leads anywhere is the one that goes forward.

To be perfectly frank, this is one of the better books I’ve read this year. Hornby’s fiction is always amusing, but it’s his talent for creating flawed lead characters who make serious mistakes but are still likeable and sympathetic that really shines. He doesn’t try to hide the importance and difficulty of the situation Sam gets himself into. He doesn’t try to sugarcoat it and play it off like it’s no big deal. Becoming a teen parent changes Sam’s life forever. When he sees how it’s going to change, it terrifies him. And he doesn’t make one mistake and then become a perfect person who does everything right. Life just isn’t that simple.

But the mistake isn’t everything either. Just because Sam made a mistake, even one that will change his life forever, doesn’t mean his life is over. However he struggles, he has a whole lifetime of possible good choices ahead of him, and he isn’t doomed to repeat all the mistakes his own father made.

Some families might feel a little uncomfortable with the subject matter, particularly when it comes to having their own kids read it. Neither Hornby nor his characters are particularly religious. Nevertheless, the themes in this book are surprisingly positive. Hornby’s honesty is very refreshing, as is his optimism.

Slam is a book about making hard choices and living with consequences of one we wish we hadn’t made. The fact that Sam takes the pro-life position for granted is also a pleasant surprise. Really, this is one of the best books I’ve read about teen pregnancy (certainly the best novel), and the perspective it provides as a morality tale about teen sexuality (and choices in general) is something both teens and parent could benefit from.

Parents should be aware, though, that the book is fairly up-front about the adult subject matter, and there’s some language and other things that make it more PG-13 than PG. None of it is taken to excess, though.

For anyone interested in an enjoyable, amusing, and thought-provoking book, Slam is certainly a great choice. Parents wanting to talk about the subject of teen pregnancy might find it to be a great jumping off point for discussion. Fans of Nick Hornby will be pleased to see that he hasn’t lost his magic yet. Book clubs would probably find it a very stimulating title for group discussion. As for myself, I’m simply glad that I read it, and I’m happy to recommend it to anyone who has a taste for this kind of book.

FAMILYFANS RATING: A

--MV

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